1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to the new use of a wheel as a keel for a sailboat to resist leeward movement in water and for transportation of boats over land.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior devices for ramp launching of boats include trailers and other wheeled devices. Such devices normally would be detached at water's edge, and thereby create a storage and security problem while the boat is in use on the water. Some small vessels have permanently mounted wheels for ramp launching, which, due to their unstreamlined design, create tremendous undesirable drag when the vessel is moving through the water.
A sailboat must have a keel or similar device (i.e. centerboard, bilgeboards, or leeboards) to resist leeway when sailing upwind. In order to serve this function, the keel must be streamlined to minimize drag against forward motion; yet shaped to effectively resist leeward motion. This requires a keel with a small frontal area, a hydrodynamically smooth and fair surface in the direction of motion, and relatively large transverse projected area. A keel is also used on other types of boats to aid in directional stability. Heretofore this device was always separate from the wheeled device used for launching.
A user of such a boat has to roll the boat into the water, float the boat off the trailer or detach or retract the rolling device, tie off the boat while such user runs up to store the trailer, return to the boat, lower the centerboard, and finally sail away. Haul out is a reversal of these steps.
Therefore, a user would appreciate a device which would allow such user to roll the boat directly into the water and sail away without having to perform the above complex and tedious procedure.